good morning. disaster at daytona. at least 33 fans this morning recovering from injuries after a massive crash sent debris raining into the stands. despite the carnage, the daytona 500 will go on hours from n. the long farewell. pope benedict delivering his final sunday this morning. thousands flocking to st. peter's square as the vatican deals with another claim of inappropriate behavior, this time by a cardinal. and the winner is? the excitement building this morning. the oscars just hours away. we'll take a look at which movies and stars could take home that coveted golden statue

today. sunday, february 24, 2013. very festive music on this sunday morning. >> wish you were walking awe with a statue right now. >> i think we should. i'm erica hill. >> and i'm lester holt. we'll have more on oscar buzz coming up. but we have serious news, including the scary crash at daytona. a crowd went flying into the wall during the final lap. 33 people hurt. crews working throughout the night to get the track ready for today's daytona 500. a live report in just a moment. also this morning, yet another round of gridlock. we're just five days away from sweeping spending cuts that

could impact everything from your food to your paycheck, and they could be just the beginning. coming up, why lawmakers can't reach a deal. former notre dame linebacker manti te'o speaks out for the first time since the scandal over his fake girlfriend. he hopes to close the door as he looks forward to a future in pro football. we did a little digging in the family photo albums to find some favorite childhood photos. >> that's erica. right there. d dylan. there is lester. >> we're recreating the pictures. >> the pictures i was looking for, unfortunately, i didn't have my bonnett on. you did get a dress out of the deal. >> i did get a new dress out of

the deal. and the whole thing was a lesson of turning something very cute into something horrifying. let's begin with the massive crash a daytona that injured dozens of fans. the race will go on today in just hours, janet shuar janet ss us. >> reporter: we were here when it happened. a horrifying crash, a car literally sheared in half. it soon became evident it was worse than that. the most serious injuries weren't the drivers in the cars, but the fans in the stands. >> and contact! >> reporter: a violent crash that started on the track and ended in the grandstand. the wreckage of a race car, large chunks of metal and a tire, flying into the air and hitting fans as high as 45 rows up. it was the final lap. drivers jockeying for a position, when a bump between

cars turned terrifying. >> tony stewart is going to win the race. >> drive kyle larsen's car cut in half and tore through the fence designed to protect fans. one spectator posted this stunning video on youtube. a tire in the stands. people scrambling and waving to get help for the injured. mike wilkinson had a clear view from his seat but couldn't bear to watch. >> i was stunned. my hand was over my mouth. i -- when i saw the car fly up and hit the fence and a fireball erupt, i turned away, i didn't want to see what happened. >> reporter: others say it was a scene of complete chaos. nascar reports more than 30 hurt. 14 taken to daytona hospitals. among the most serious, a child in critical, but stable condition. >> fans want to be close to the action at daytona. if you were to walk by the fence here, you will feel it.

your hair will literally be sucked sideways because are you so close to the action. that's what fans want. >> reporter: amazingly, kyle larsen walked away from the accident and no other drivers seriously hurt. they moved quickly to repair damage to the fence and retaining wall ahead of today's daytona 500, its signature race. as nascar said, it would take a close look at what happened. >> we need to take the type to study it, see what we can improve on and if we can, certainly the safety of our fans is first and foremost and we'll make that happen. >> it can be risky business navigating the heavily horsepowers cars. as one driver said after the accident, we assume the risk. it shouldn't be the fans. and the speedway worked overnight to repair and replace the retaining wall and the fence that was damaged in the accident. daytona is ready for the signature race that starts at 1:00 eastern today. fans will be seated in the same stands where so many were hurt

on saturday. lester. >> all right, janet shamlian, thanks. kevin meister had a bird's eye view. what did you see? >> all the action really started as soon as drivers came around turn four and the checkered flag started waving. and the racers jumped on the gas and right before they hit the checkered finish, everybody started getting loose and made a block and all of a sudden there was a huge crash right into the gate and there was a car completely vertical, and all of a sudden you saw fiberglass just everywhere like confetti as a party. >> tell me what was going on in the stands? you went down to the ledge to shoot what was below you. what did you see in terms of the people in the impact area? >> right. as soon as i ran down to the ledge to, you know, see what had

happened, see what exactly was going on, people were, you know, panicking, and police and ushers were trying to escort people out of area so that the medical teams to get to injured folks. there were a lot of people around trying to comfort those who were clearly injured. and i even saw a man take off his shirt and wrap it around a couple -- you know, lacerations that another man had. i saw another guy passing out water. but you really saw human compassion right after that happened. people were kind of in a state of shell shock. >> kevin, you are a big nascar fan, seen a lot of crashes. and we've seen the fences to protect the crowd from flying debris from crashes. how shocking to see it go above that fence and into the area where the crowd was? >> right, you see the fence and you feel pretty safe as a spectator, but until something like that actually happens and, you know, the engine actually broke through the fence.

that was surreal, to think that something like that actually had a possibility of happening and did yesterday, i mean, was just devastati devastating. >> you will attend the race today with no reservations? >> no reservations at all. i'm an avid nascar fan. and thankfully we were out of the debris zone, but 15 feet in front of me, sort of right down below, it looked like a shock absorber, a metal rod of some type, came all the way up into my section in the upper deck. >> very frightening fi ining pi. thank you for spending time with us this morning. >> you're welcome. >> now here is erica. huge crowds filled st. peter's square for pope benedict xvi's final sunday blessing. the vatican is slamming some media reports about why the pope chose to resign now. anne thompson outside vatican

city with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erica. a mixture of joy and intrigue here in vatican city. catholics and the curious jammed st. peter's square to hear pope benedict's final sunday blessing. the 100,000 people who attended on got not only a blessing but heard the pope shed light on why he resigned. he said that god called him to the mountain to live a life of more prayer and meditation. he wasn't going to abandon the church. the pontiff said god asked him to live this life with the same kind of dedication, but to do so in a way that was more appropriate to his age and strength. now, this very joyous event took place against a background of scandal. there are new headlines in britain this morning, three priests and a former priest, accused the scottish cardinal keith o'brien of inappropriate behavior going back some 30 years. they want cardinal o'brien to resign immediately before he

comes to rome to vote for the new pope. i asked the papal spokesperson about this today. he told me that the pope will be informed of this matter this afternoon and that tomorrow the vatican will issue a statement. erica. >> and, anne, we're hearing plenty about the scandal at home in the u.s. the former archbishop of los angeles. and also facing problems with a priest sexual abuse scandal there. >> reporter: he is. that's cardinal roger mahony. he was depossessed yesterday for almost four hours. asked by lawyers what he knew about a visiting mexican priest who was accused of abusing some 26 children in the 1980s. court documents released earlier this year show that cardinal mahony did play a role in shielding abusive priests. some u.s. catholics called on mahony not to come to rome to vote on the new pope, but he says he will participate.

erica. >> anne thompson, thank you. in washington, time is ticking for congress and the president to reach a deal. otherwise, massive spending cuts you keep hearing about, the sequester that could have a major effect on you. david gregory, moderator of "meet the press." boy, i feel like we say this a lot, with good reason. broken record yet again. give us a quick sense of what this could do to people? cuts go into effect on friday. >> one of the things, what does it mean for air travelers? the ability of air controllers or the prospect i should say of flight controllers being furloughed. a number of them losing their jobs. airport towers being closed in certain parts of the country could mean very real delays. that's what the transportation secretary is warning of. republicans say that's overblown. the reality, federal workers will be cut. the defense is going to be cut. by 50% of this. and the meat cleaver approach,

which both sides agree is a terrible idea, is how the cuts will be made. and that's got so many people worried. >> both sides agree it's a terrible idea, but it seems like a foregone conclusion. why can't, david, lawmakers find some sort of agreement here? >> because they just philosophically on opposite ends of this. the president wants a mix of spending cuts and new tax revenues through some kind of tax reform, closing loopholes and whatnot. blaming congress for not giving in on that. republicans say he just got new revenue to avert the fiscal cliff here at the end of the year. there ought to be more pronounced spending cuts. they can't see eye to eye. they aren't really even talking to each other, which is so absurd. both sides working the public relations aspect. the public is fed up and will only get more fed up. >> the pr campaigns not exactly winning over the people that put

them in washington. david, we'll check in with you later for a preview of "meet the press." and this morning's other top stories. police in las vegas have identified the person responsible for a deadly shooting on the strip. they found the vehicle believed to be involved in the shooting and subsequent crash that killed three people on thursday. also, they've identified 26-year-old amare harris as the suspect. they haven't found him, but his vehicle found blocks away from the shooting scene. oscar pistorius remains hold up in his uncle's home, there are legal troubles for his brother. facing a culpable homicide charge from a 2008 road death. probation officers visited pistorius at his uncle's home. he is not able to go back to his home because it's considered a crime scene.

20 teenagers arrested after police say they were running around causing a chaotic scene at a mall in chicago. the boy band mindless behavior was there signing autographs, but the mall said that had nothing to do with the chaos, just coincidence. fireworks good. fireworks going off without anyone setting them off is bad. started shooting out of a building in the middle of night when a fire happened inside that started in a candle production area and spread to a fireworks warehouse. let me see if i get this. candles and fireworks being made in the same building. okay. tonight, hollywood will recognize the best of the best. but last night, the worst of the worst took center stage at the razz razzies. the big winner or loser "twilight: breaking dawn part two." kristen stewart, worst actress, and taylor lautner, worst actor.

who cares? because they made a bazillion dollars making the movie. i will half all the way to the bank. thank you very much. >> jenna, thanks. dylan with the first check of the weather. >> storms in states, and right now it's in the rockies and will still pick up 10 to 6 tphfinches of snow, blizzard warnings posted, and kansas looks like will see the second pwhrezard in a week. so it's going to be a rough go through kansas and into nebraska and northern parts of oklahoma and the panhandle of texas as well. we will keep an eye on that. today, it's all about denver. and new england could end up with two to three inches of snow tonight. that's a look at the weather across the country and now here is a peek out your window. >> outside of our windows, sunshine is breaking through.

i am team 4 meteorologist, chuck bell. temperatures in the 30s and 40s already, and we are looking for highs to climb into the upper 40s and low 50s as sunshine is on the way. winds this afternoon out of the northwest at 15 to 25 miles per hour, and back to work and school tomorrow, high clouds coming in tomorrow afternoon, and highs near 50 on your monday. and that is your latest forecast. erica. >> dylan, thanks. up next, manti te'o tackles new questions about the embarrassing hoax involving a fake girlfriend. back after this. , i got it made♪ ♪ i got it made ♪ fresh at subway ♪ breakfast made the way i say ♪ i got it made ♪ i got it made, i got it made, i got it made ♪ ♪ fresh at subway ♪ breakfast made the way i say [ male announcer ] get breakfast made the way you say. like your very own sizzlin' steak, egg white & cheese. amazingly under 200 calories.

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both on and off the field. >> reporter: manti te'o faced a crush of media and questions at the nfl scouting combine in indianapolis. >> i've been in front of a few cameras, but not as many as this. >> reporter: the first press conference since the woman he was date never existed. >> i cared for somebody, and, unfortunately, it didn't end up the way i thought it would. >> reporter: it ended up with te'o believing his girlfriend died from cancer. it played out online. ta >> i hurt every day. >> reporter: te'o was asked why he never saw the girl. >> i did try. it just never worked out. >> reporter: it showcases the next wave of nfl talent. but it also gave te'o the chance

to tackle the criticism he didn't come forward sooner after finding out he had been duped. >> it was a whirlwind of stuff. me, a 22-year-old, 21 years old at this time, just trying to get your thoughts right. >> reporter: teams are taking a hard look at this top defensive player to see how he handles the pressure. but the real test, sports writers say, is yet to come. >> nothing compares to when you step into a locker room and have to face that macho testosterone-filled environment and more so when you have to get on a field. and teams are testing you physically, but also mentally. >> reporter: former pro players say controversy is not new to sports and teammates and the public will give te'o a chance to prove himself. >> winning cures all. come in as a rookie, top 15 pick, become a starter, lead your defense to a better season than they had the year before, that cures it. >> reporter: for today, michelle franzen, nbc news. still ahead, the oscars are

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it is 8:26 on this sunday, february 24th. good morning. i am richard jordon. topping the news this morning police in montgomery county are investigating a double homicide overnight. the police were called out just before 2:00 this morning to a

report of shots fired on flower avenue off new hampshire avenue. officers found two men dead in a driveway. no word on their identities or the search for a gunman. the archbishop of washington is off to the vatican. he will get to say good-bye to pope benedict xvi before he steps down at the end of the week, but first he will celebrate a mass here in d.c. for the pope. it happens at noon at the basilica at the shrine in northeast d.c. he is one of 11 u.s. cardinals who will pick the next pope. chuck bell joins us with a check on your forecast next. stay with us.

the weekend started off cloudy and wet but will end with sunshine. let's get the forecast details from meteorologist, chuck bell. >> good morning, everybody. the clouds and drizzly drops we had a few hours ago are gone and the sunshine is breaking through. that's a nice way to get your sunday started. it's going to be a beautiful afternoon today, and current temperatures on the cool side in the upper 30s and low 40s, but not too bad. northwesterly winds will pick up speed later this afternoon, 15 to 25 miles per hour on average. it will be sunny and pleasant, but will be breezy. and then for tomorrow, back to work and school, everybody. subfreezing temperatures tomorrow morning and again plenty of sunshine on your monday morning, temperatures